D&D General "The perfect edition for ___ is this!" [+]

[Sacrosanct]

The best art and aesthetic is - 5e D&D.

I know this is a + thread that I created lol, and I'm not digging on the art in 5e. A lot of it's really good. But am I the only one who liked the concept 5e art better? Man, that was some good art, IMO.

 

[James Gasik]

I know this is a + thread that I created lol, and I'm not digging on the art in 5e. A lot of it's really good. But am I the only one who liked the concept 5e art better? Man, that was some good art, IMO.

Yeah, like the PHB was really lackluster for the most part. And a few pieces that were good, I noticed were reused from 4e.

 

[Hussar]

To be fair, I'm not a huge collector, and I haven't bought a dead tree RPG book in a long time, so, art does tend to be a bit of a lower impact consideration for me, but, the images in the adventures and books that I do have for 5e have some gorgeous pieces in them. Dragon Heist has some really nice pieces in it for evoking Waterdeep. And Candlekeep Mysteries has some great images.

Now, if you want to talk about cartography? Oh, yeah, 3e is hands down the most beautiful maps in the game. I get why Dyson Logos does most of the cartography for 5e adventures, but, I really, really don't like them for my game. For an online player, Dyson Logos are nowhere near pretty enough. I would LOVE to see some pretty maps in my adventures again.

 

[Zardnaar]

For ease of play. B/X

One off sessions. 5E

Strategy and tactics. 4E or 2E with optional rules.

System mastery. 3.0

Hero/superhero 3E or 4E

Dark and gritty. 1E

Low magic. 2E using spells and Magic low magic option.

Player skill. 3E.

Modern or Sci Fi 3E or variant eg modern/SWSE/Future.

Setting lore. 2E

Best Art. 5E or late 1E/early 2E.

 

[mcmillan]

I'll preface this with I've only played 3.5-5e except for some exposure of 2e via Baldur's gate so most of my answers reflect that period unless I have a strong impression of earlier editions

For quick play and ease of learning and picking up, the best edition is
5e - has some quirks, but relatively easy to pick up the basic mechanics and learn details as you play
For one off-sessions, the best edition is
5e - feels the most straight forward to have a self-contained story that fits in one session. I suspect pre-3e would also be good at this
For strategic and tactical planning, the best edition is
4e - this seems like where 4e really shines
For system mastery, the best edition is
3e
For that hero/superhero feel, my go-to edition is
4e - seems like even at 1st level characters are powerful and capable. If moving out of D&D itself, I'd also put 13th age into this category
For dark and gritty, you should use
Don't think the systems I have experience with are best suited, from reputation I'd say 1e AD&D or BECMI would probably be a better fit
Want a low magic setting, go with
4e - given my hero/superhero answer this might be a surprise. But limit the party to martial characters and use the inherent bonus rules so magic items aren't needed for math and would play as smooth as the normal system
Player skill matters, so use
For the best player options and customization, go with
3.5e - though I think Pathfinder and especially pathfinder 2e would be better
Want to convert to a modern or sci-fi setting? Use
4e - with the ease of reflavoring mechanics would be easy to make work. Gamma world is a example of what this might look like
If you want a ton of setting/lore material out there, use
2e - even though I haven't played it, I've pulled a lot of lore from some of these books. Though I'll also note I think 4e has more going on here than it probably gets credit for. A lot of the world building got mixed in with flavor text that was easy to ignore but had some interesting things implied. I still dip into the feywild and Open Grave (undead) books for inspiration. And I never picked them up, but now that it's being revaluated have heard good things about the dragon books and plane above and below
The best art and aesthetic is
5e

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

But am I the only one who liked the concept 5e art better?

People probably felt it was too cartoony, but it was so much better than the generic art we add in the first books. It got better with each new books released after that.

For a company so focused on its brand, having a distinctive art style where people would say while stumbling into an image on Google ''ah, that is a D&D art piece for sure'' would be a good goal. Say what you will of Pathfinder or 4e, you know at first sight their provenance.

 

[Nikosandros]

For quick play and ease of learning and picking up, the best edition is

B/X

For one off-sessions, the best edition is

B/X

For strategic and tactical planning, the best edition is

For strategic resource management 1e. For tactics 4e.

For system mastery, the best edition is

3.x

For that hero/superhero feel, my go-to edition is

4e

For dark and gritty, you should use

House ruled old-school.

Want a low magic setting, go with

Depends on the feel. I could go with a house-ruled old school or 4e with only martial characters.

Player skill matters, so use

Any old school edition.

For the best player options and customization, go with

4e

Want to convert to a modern or sci-fi setting? Use

5e

If you want a ton of setting/lore material out there, use

2e, but a lot of lore can easily be brought into 5e

The best art and aesthetic is

I can't decide.

I'll add another category: Best "bridge/compromise" edition: 5e

 

[Ancalagon]

I don't feel qualified to fully answer this list, but something I thing I should bring to attention of people is the GLOG (goblin laws of gaming), a D&D-based game (you can run a b/x module with them no issue) designed by well, a lot of people. The system is meant to be hacked and modified as you see fit.

Key feature are:

1: ease of use
2: low level/power play (every level you get "something" and at level 5 you retire... or continue, but only get nominal increases per level)
3: fast natural healing, so no "need" for a healer
4: spells don't have levels, very interesting system
5: every PC has a decent baseline fighting ability - a wizard stabbing a goblin with a dagger "works" (oh and daggers are good weapons)
6: SO MANY CLASSES - very easy to make your own, and there are amazing ones out there ( The best Glog classes). I've played a game where I was a antling petty sell-sword, along with a gun-priest and a monkey dad.

(edit: why is it so easy to make classes? because balance is not as important, and you only need to cover 4 levels)

The rules can be found in several places, but the most "orthodox" version is here: this one has a strong "feudal" aspect to it, but that isn't necessary if you don't like it

OSR: GLOG-based Homebrew v.2: Many Rats on Sticks Edition

I've finally finished updated the original Rat on a Stick GLOG hack. Feedback and notes from playtesting was incorporated. Notable changes...

coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com

So what would I use the GLOG for?

For quick play and ease of learning and picking up
For one off-sessions
For dark and gritty
Want a low magic setting,
Player skill matters (there is an ethos in the GLOG: rolling is bad because it may fail! The best plans just work, no roll needed)
For the best player options and customization

 

[Andvari]

For quick play and ease of learning and picking up, the best edition is

Basic D&D.

For one off-sessions, the best edition is

The edition you and the players are the most familiar with. If you’re not familiar with any, then it is Basic D&D.

For strategic and tactical planning, the best edition is

Any edition allows infinite strategic and tactical planning, though the incentive is greater in earlier editions due to higher lethality. Though if the players are stuck in a video game mindset, an argument could be made for 4th edition.

For system mastery, the best edition is

3.5 as it has an immense amount of optional rules and possibilities, though this can be a double-edged sword.

For that hero/superhero feel, my go-to edition is

4th edition.

For dark and gritty, you should use

BECMI and AD&D make it easier through higher lethality and settings, but it really can be done with any edition.

Want a low magic setting, go with

Any edition.

Player skill matters, so use

BECMI or AD&D.

For the best player options and customization, go with

3.5.

Want to convert to a modern or sci-fi setting? Use

Another game system.

If you want a ton of setting/lore material out there, use

AD&D 2nd edition.

The best art and aesthetic is

Stuff from the BECMI/AD&D era due to artists like Elmore and Easley being so prevalent. The “worst” I think is 4th edition. While the quality of 4E art is excellent, I prefer the less exaggerated and more realistic art of earlier editions.

 

[Tallifer]

For balance: 4E